Iowa’s largest electric utility is reporting scattered power outages as the first statewide snowstorm of the season is blanketing much of Iowa with a layer of heavy, wet snow.
MidAmerican Energy spokeswoman Tina Hoffman says they dispatched dozens of tree and line repair crews to strategic locations on Monday, before the storm hit.
“When we know that we have events like this coming in, we take extra measures to make sure that we do have crews positioned to where they need to be,” Hoffman says. “That eliminates those travel concerns so we don’t have to worry about our crews driving to where they need to be in unsafe conditions. We get them there ahead of time and so they’re ready to go if we have any system issues.”
In some outages, there were equipment failures, but Hoffman says in many cases, the outages are being caused by tree limbs snapping under the weight of the snow, taking out overhead power lines as they fall. She says motor vehicle collisions with utility poles are another worry.
“We’re hoping that everybody stays safe out on the roads, and those sorts of things, traffic accidents, cars versus poles, those are of concern and we’ll continue to watch for that,” Hoffman says, “but right now, this system has really held up very well and we’re hoping that it holds throughout the day as the winds pick up.”
When strong winds hit power lines that are coated with heavy snow or ice, those lines can sometimes “gallop” in gusts and snap. Forecasters say wind gusts may reach 40 miles an hour later in the day.